The September birthstones Lapis Lazuli and Sapphire, are full bodied blues.

Whilst lapis lazuli offers a dense but luminous royal blue, sapphires are almost always faceted and an intense inky, navy blue.

Lapis Lazuli Jewellery

Worn by the ancient civilisations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, Rome and Greece lapis lazuli has been unearthed dating back to the 4th millennium BC.
Lapis lazuli was used in jewellery by men and women as well as carved into ornaments.

Until 1834 lapis lazuli was ground up and mixed with fixing powder to create the wonderful bright blue "ultramarine" used in paintings. After 1834 the colour could be synthetically reproduced and lapis lazuli was retired from painting.

Lapis lazuli is one of the softer stones - 5.5 on the Mohs Scale.
However this shouldn't put you off owning and wearing a piece of lapis lazuli jewellery. The lapis stones are coated with a colourless wax or resin to protect from acid erosion.

Sapphire Jewellery

Sapphire is a precious stone and sapphire jewellery usually belongs to traditional engagement or eternity rings and to the jewellery collections of royalty, the rich and famous.
Sapphire is a variety of corundum, like ruby. It is characteristically a deep inky navy but that's not where the story ends.

Sapphire is available in many different colours.

Sapphires from Sri Lanka are found in glorious pinks, greens, yellow, amber and of course blue.
See some of these colours in our sapphire bracelets.